In fact, while the fat guy was walking to the trunk, he had secretly torn his coat; then the minute he opened that trunk, a small flag in his coat showed up just in time. Every step in the process was carried out perfectly, without any mistake.

The small flag was black with a tortoise[1] on it. The tortoise had a strong coercion; after the fat guy enhanced it with his blood, it started changing in the flag as if it had become alive. It was the flag that suppressed this bronze chest; it worked like the mutual generation and overcoming among the five elements[2].

After the flag showed up, the bronze chest seemed to be completely overwhelmed; there was a shadow of the tortoise on the chest, like a seal over a tiger’s mouth so it wouldn’t bite any more.

"You’re not easy to approach. I had to play dumb for such a long time. Finally you’re mine, you son of a b*tch. Ha, this is a real bargain!"

While talking, the fat guy lifted the chest with his arms. The heavy chest used to take two grown man to be moved and it still wasn’t easy, but now, the fat guy was carrying it around easily. Obviously, the fat guy had been pretending to be useless when he was facing Nine; it was not Su Bai and Nine that he was trying to foul but the bronze chest in the trunk. He had to convince the chest that he was merely a lame useless Taoist so he could get the best chance.

The flag was stuck into the gap of the chest; then the fat guy waved to Su Bai and shouted:

"Kid, I’m gonna hit the road! You can spend the night with this pretty ghost lady. Thank you for your cooperation!"

After all, Su Bai had let him in and taken him here, thus, sort of cooperating with his plan without knowing it. He deserved a "thank you".

Right after that, the fat guy jumped directly over a wall of the construction site by the road, as light as a a swallow. It was a really visual shock that such a fatty could jump up so high.

Su Bai was calm about the fat guy taking the chest away. However, he was having a lingering fear about how concentrated and professional he was when he played dumb. Sometimes, the most frightful people were not the strongest ones but those who were strong but kept a low profile or even played dumb. You would never know when they would bite you with a smile or swallow you down entirely.

In fact, it could be good for Su Bai that the chest was taken away. He wasn’t able to handle it anyway. If he really brought it home like he had planned, he would be in trouble. Now that the danger was away with the fat guy, it seemed a lot more quiet. Since the fat guy was capable of getting that chest, he should be able to handle it properly.

Su Bai supported Nine up and walked to the vehicle. After putting Nine on the rear seats, he sat on the driver’s seat.

The ghost lady floated to the passenger’s seat and sat down.

Su Bai’s fingers knocked against the wheel.

The ghost lady seemed a little shy. Actually, this ghost lady who was a senior at Su Bai’s school had never really acted like a ghost; instead, she looked just like a shy little girl.

The ghost lady had also appeared in the story about that mutilation case; even after she was enhanced by the Dreadful Radio, she was scared off by Su Bai’s dagger which was a murder weapon. And that indicated that she was really timid. Therefore, even though she was in the story world of Dreadful Radio Game, such a character was still so obvious.

"I’ve got nowhere to go." The ghost lady said.

"Your name?" Su Bai started the car.

"Yu Yi."

Su Bai nodded. "Fine. Just stay with me for now."

Now that the danger seemed to have passed, Su Bai drove the car back to his hotel, supported Nine into his room and told the receptionist that his friend had gotten drunk.

Nine was still in coma. Su Bai put him on bed.

Su Bai knew that Nine wasn’t fond of hospitals of any kind. It was his habit; when he got hurt, he always treated himself. Besides, a hospital wouldn’t be very helpful to such weakness caused by long-time possession; a doctor could only offer normal saline.

The ghost lady went in with him and stood by the night table.

"Don’t you need to sleep?" Su Bai asked.

The ghost lady shook her head.

"Whatever. Just make yourself at home."

Then Su Bai laid on the carpet. It had indeed been a long night.

Soon Su Bai felt asleep. He slept well; after all, his mind had become stronger and stronger, so he wouldn’t think too much or have nightmares. When he woke up, it was already noon.

He went to the bathroom to wash up. However, just then, behind the curtain, there appeared a woman’s figure.

"You’re scary over there, you know that?" Su Bai said while he was wiping his face.

"Sorry, but there was sunshine in the room.." Yu Yi apologized.

Su Bai sighed. After cleaning up, he went to the bed and called Nine for several times. But Nine didn’t wake up.

He took a towel and cleaned Nine’s body, carried him out and checked out. He got into the car and checked Nine. He wouldn’t be able to take care of Nine by himself for now, therefore he needed to find a sanatorium. Nine needed to rest and convalesce, with which Su Bai couldn’t help much.

It was not until afternoon when Su Bai found a local high-grade sanatorium for Nine. The biggest problem should have been money— deposit and payment, but what really cost Su Bai a fortune was the details, because stuff including medical history and family signature was required. Luckily, money could always solve everything. Nine was settled down.

After Su Bai saw that Nine was in good hands, with a liquid food tube and special personnel providing examination and massage, he finally felt relieved. He had no intention of coming back to that "home", so he stayed in a nurse room beside Nine’s ward.

Life in the sanatorium was easy and relaxing. Su Bai had a regular schedule for a whole week, only watched TV, went for a walk or took a nap from time to time. It was sort of dull, but Su Bai didn’t feel bored. Perhaps after Dreadful Radio Game, Su Bai now valued an ordinary life even more.

The only thing Su Bai was not satisfied with was the food here. Light food was too tasteless. And after so much light food, he started to desire something more delicious.

This was the first time in this week that Su Bai had set foot outside the sanatorium. Before that, he even had his new clothes ordered online and delivered directly into his room. He had no idea when he would be allowed to go back home. He texted Litchi several times on WeChat, but there was no reply; he knew Litchi was not someone within his reach, so after those unanswered messages, he left Litchi alone.

He went to a hotpot restaurant outside the sanatorium, ordered a rabbit head hotpot and several pot-stewed dishes, and then waited. On the TV in the lobby, there was some news about disaster relief. During these days, the southern and eastern parts of China were suffering from extraordinary rainstorms, causing a lot of property loss and casualties. In Chengdu it had been raining heavily.

Su Bai was drinking Wong Lo Kat[3] from a straw. It would be quite a while before the dishes were served; luckily, Su Bai wasn’t in a hurry. He was here for better food, but he was not starving as if he had just got out of prison after decades.

However, just at this point, someone came from outside. It was a big guy, and as soon as Su Bai got a glimpse of him, he couldn’t move his eyes away. The guy also saw Su Bai; he clapped on his thigh, immediately came and sat by Su Bai’s side. Then he waved his hand to the waiter as a frequent visitor:

"Hey beautiful! A new set of tableware here, and two bottles of rice wine."

"Got it."

After that, the fat guy looked at Su Bai and asked, "How’s your friend? Has he woken up?"

Su Bai shook his head.

"Not yet. But he will soon. He’s recovering."

"Don’t worry, he’s gonna be fine. He’s strong and well-built."

Su Bai didn’t ask anything about the bronze chest. Since it was taken by the fat guy, it would be unnecessary for him to care about it any more.

"By the way, is your completeness over three?"

Su Bai shook his head confusedly. "Does that mean how many times I have gone through story worlds?"

The fat guy was an audience; Su Bai had already guessed that. Therefore Su Bai wasn’t surprised when he started speaking bluntly.

The fat guy was a little surprised, "What? You don’t even know this?"

"I’ve just passed my experience tasks."

Hearing this, the fat guy’s look changed, and he said with a little excitement, "Gee, you’re talented! I’m impressed! I saw your moves that night, and I thought you must be of the third or fourth grade. Didn’t expect that you have none."

Just then, their rabbit head hotpot was served. The fat guy forgot everything else, just picked up his chopsticks and started enjoying.

"Come on, enjoy! I’m a frequent visitor here, and I know the owner. But the owner died three days ago. I’ve been busy with something and haven’t come for a while. So today I decided to pay a special visit and enjoy the owner’s dishes for the last time."

The fat guy said while glutting.

Su Bai took his chopsticks and picked up a piece of rabbit meat.

Then he suddenly frowned.

What the fat guy had just said flashed over his mind again.

Su Bai put back that piece of rabbit meat and dropped his chopsticks.

There seemed to be something wrong about that.

———————————————

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Tortoise: One of the Four Symbols of Chinese astronomy, also standing for the Dark Warrior, a god in Chinese religion. The Four Symbols are four mythological creatures in the Chinese constellations: Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise of the North. Each one of them represents a direction and a season, and each has its own individual characteristics and origins. Symbolically and as part of spiritual and religious belief, they have been culturally important in China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. — Wikipedia

[2] Mutual generation and overcoming among the five elements: The Five Elements, also known as the Five Phases, the Five Agents, the Five Movements, Five Processes, the Five Steps/Stages and the Five Planets. It is a fivefold conceptual scheme that many traditional Chinese fields used to explain a wide array of phenomena, from cosmic cycles to the interaction between internal organs, and from the succession of political regimes to the properties of medicinal drugs. The five elements are: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. This order of presentation is known as the "mutual generation" sequence. In the order of "mutual overcoming", they are Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, and Metal. — Wikipedia

[3] Wong Lo Kat: Wong Lo Kat or Wanglaoji in pinyin, is a Chinese herbal tea. It is one of the most popular tea drinks in China today and is sold in many forms and different types of containers. — Wikipedia